


Of Killers and other Pretty Things

by The_Almighty_Afroduck



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ambiguous Relationships, Bisexuality, Cannibalism, Corruption, Cult of Ymir, Dark Eren Yeager, Double Life, F/F, F/M, M/M, Mercenaries, Mercenary Eren Yeager, Minor Mikasa Ackerman/Jean Kirstein, Minor Sasha Blouse/Connie Springer, Multi, POV Annie Leonhart, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Protective Annie Leonhart, Second Chances, Stripper Annie Leonhart, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Titan Powers without the Titans, Titan-Haired Eren Yeager
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-23 01:34:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11392584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Almighty_Afroduck/pseuds/The_Almighty_Afroduck
Summary: Annie abandoned her life as one of the Titans, a notorious terrorist group known throughout Eldia for their inexplicable powers, tactics and overall reign of terror after nearly being caught and killed off by the Survey Corps. Split from her previous partners and friends, she pulls a lot of favors to get herself out the frying pan without jumping into the fires. Unfortunately, her life and peace came at the cost of her dignity.Resigned to her new life, 'Diamond' makes a new life as an exotic dancer, eager to earn the money necessary to disappear for good. But chance meetings were always a recurring theme in her life, and even in her new job she meets a stranger who manages to catch her eye. As the old saying goes, if you love something, let it go. If it comes back... chaos reigns. At least boredom will never be the death of her.





	1. A Night in the Life

**Author's Note:**

> Evening, viewers. I am the Almighty Afroduck, greatest being in the entire universe. Jokes aside, I figured I could write a little something considering a ship that's always tormenting me, said ship being Eren and Annie's. The scenario I'm looking for, however, is more taking into account Eren's newer, somber personality, which is why he may seem out of character in contrast as to what he was for two thirds/three fourths of the manga. I could see hot headed Eren slowly growing on Annie, but a level-headed Eren with the same indominable will might go a much longer way. Either ways, I like the idea of writting out this scenario since no one else has done it this way.
> 
> I'm not gonna lie, this is a really smutty fic. I'm talking actual addiction levels. I'll try to keep it at moderate levels since a story can't be driven on sex alone, and I do have a story in mind for the characters with its parallels to the actual story's plot, so if I don't write them out, I'll just make mentions of them. I've already put it in the tags, but I'll say it again, if you're uncomfortable with same-sex scenes or bisexuality, this ain't the fic for you.
> 
> As for the unique 'Titan Powers without the Titans', well, let's just say there are no Titans nor is there any Shifting. They do, however, retain abilities and powers without having gargantuan versions of themselves and the 'Curse of Ymir' is inexistent in this story.
> 
> Now a lot of this story is centered around Eren and Annie as well as normal encounters, but in time more characters will be introduced into the story and the characters' actions won't be mundane/trivial for too long. So expect actual fight scenes or backstory telling or storybuilding chapters later on. For now, we take baby steps. Smutty baby steps. All that said and done, I do hope you enjoy this fic, and by all means leave a comment if you like it or find anything I could improve!

She sighed as she finished with her daily training, drops of sweat having long since traveled down from her forehead and to her chin, leaving a mark on the floor as to where her territory had been. Forty-five minutes of running on a treadmill, several sets of push-ups and sit-ups, and twenty consecutive minutes of beating the shit out of the punching bag. With that, she went to the lockers, going inside one of the little pockets in the wall to take a quick shower. She was in shape, and she’d keep herself that way. It was about one of the only things she had to look forward to in the day. Changing quickly into one of her gaudier, hardly covering ‘outfits’ before throwing sweatpants and a hoodie on top of it, finishing with some sweat-less sneakers over her clean feet she headed out with her bag of dirty clothes.

The other women at the gym stopped looking twice her way by now. It had been a rather ‘shocking’ sight to see someone of her age and her… _profession_ going and working out in the same place they were. Annie never cared. She had enough to pay for the subscription. She earned her place, and she would damn well make good use of the money she was putting into the place. She never cared about the stares she got at first, nor even the snickering. In her past life, the women would have been too damn scared to even look twice her way. But now, she would be the center of all jokes if it came down to that. Anything in order to lay low. If there was one truth the young woman was better aware of than anyone else, is that beggars don’t get the right to choose.

She was ‘Annie the Stripper’, simple as that. None of the women were interested in looking anywhere beyond that in her. Not that she cared. Again, the fewer the occasions for contact, the better. Only one time, she remembered, some snotty brat had wanted to spar with her at the gym. She supposed that her working at a less than reputable job made her weaker than the rest. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy leaving her laying upside-down, ass in the air. Within a few seconds. Very few seconds. Her opponent, if she could be called as much, was so afraid of how much Annie had accomplished in such short time that she immediately backed off. That only accentuated the stares and the rumors. Annie remained silent. In the end, she prevailed.

Finishing her sixth month since she had started her new life, Annie wasn’t happy. She was alive, she was well, she was healthy and earning a decent amount of money. She wasn’t happy. Starting her new routine, she’d grown needy of the systematic processes of the days and the weeks, not wanting anything to change. She knew she wasn’t happy, but she was at peace, and at the rate she lived, it was as much as she could ask for. Sure, there was the second reflex of looking over her shoulder all the time during her first month, but she soon enough got used to the fact that it was generally men looking at her body. She didn’t have it out on display in broad daylight, she would rather die than lower that bar. But, much as she tried to separate her stage name from her real self, there were times when her reputation preceded her. At least that was better than being watched by someone with a killer intent.

“Annie, you’re done too?” And there was the anomaly amidst her routine. Mina Carolina had a kindness that surpassed the stigma of not being around her general vicinity. Annie had been annoyed by that at first, but she would admit that the company was welcome after getting used to the bubbly girl. Being one of the gym’s trainers, she had to have an open disposition to everyone who had a membership, and Annie was one of them. Though the blonde supposed that the raven-haired girl was naturally inclined to look for the best in people and not just because it was her job requirement. She had even tried convincing her into leaving her current job and becoming one of the coaches there. Annie said no. She’d already broken enough of her own rules allowing Mina to come into her life, she didn’t want any more attachment than she already allowed in her life. But of course, the only answer she gave was that ‘it didn’t pay as well’.

“Yeah, I’m going home for a bit before heading off to work.” Her tone was dismissive, but Mina had long since learned to ignore that, and Annie had learned to follow up on her attempts at conversations. “Then it’s a good thing that it’s Friday today! I’m telling you, there’s a lot of events going on this weekend and I _know_ you’d be interested in being in some of them! There’s even a fighting tournament, if I remember right. I bet you’d kick ass at it, too!”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll pass. I don’t want to send anyone to the hospital in the next couple of days.” Which was a half-truth. Annie had been taught plenty on fighting and martial arts, but very little on holding back. Besides, she didn’t want to make a name for herself or get her picture on some poster. Beyond the grating idea of her public life becoming that much more involved with her nights as a stripper, her secluded life kept that from happening since she had started, she didn’t want the relative peace she’d come to achieve to come crashing down because of some stupid competition with not enough money for a reward at the end. “Ugh, _fine_ , but you’re not getting off the hook so easily! You and I are going to do something fun this weekend if it kills me!”

“You’re free to try, but don’t expect me to cry at your funeral.” Her off-putting comment only made Mina laugh, the two walking out of the building before she waved goodbye at her. Annie didn’t wave back, but she did flash a very small smile her way, one which doubtless was caught by her friend’s perceptive eye. Friend. Now that was a word she rarely thought of nowadays. When she got home, she dropped on her couch and let her exhausted body relax. Thunder clapping outside told her it was gonna be a long night. Hopefully the storm to come would deter more people from going into the club, but if it didn’t, it only meant that the men would stay _much_ longer.

She sighed, letting the AC cool her off before getting back up again. She walked and looked herself in her bedroom’s mirror. It really had surprised her that she had reached a height of one-seventy-two meters in a final stretch during the end of her puberty. _Nineteen years._ Two words which could not come close to describing their meaning. Under some technicalities, she was still a teenager, even if the age of consent and drinking was eighteen if you abided strictly by the law. No one did, but it always served as a reference point. She had started her shitstorm of a life since she was a child, she had to mature faster than most. It was probably why she viewed most peers of her age as childish. Years ago, she had been irate at the fact that her childhood, the joys of her life had been taken from her. Now she simply acknowledged the fact and moved on. The scars on her body from her previous life were thin, easy to miss because she had been that good at her job. The bigger ones were all within, a detail lost on everyone who looked at her.

She sat down in her kitchen, looking over her apartment. It was pretty well-sized considering she was only one person living there. She had a guestroom, but it was never used. Her bathroom connected directly to her bedroom, though there was a spare in the small living room. It was a bit more than humble and she wouldn’t complain. The less she spent on stupid, worthless things and the more she saved up, the quicker she’d live the rest of her life away from everyone and everything, a loneliness that would bring true peace and drown her fears. An alarm on her phone told her it was time. She sighed. The end of the road was still far away. Tonight would be just another night of work.

She took off her clothes, finding herself as close as she could to being naked without actually being naked. The damned ‘minimalist’, vibrant, colorful attire she had to use for work was by far what had taken her the longest to get used to. Even the crooning, hooting assholes that throwed the bills at her heels she could stand, even if she had to show off her body a bit. Even the dancing was easy enough to learn. Sure, she knew next to nothing of it prior to taking the job, but the litheness and agility of her martial arts coupled with the fitness she maintained had made the moves seem simple. The problem with the outfits were mostly with herself, though the degrading feeling subsided with time. Now apathy reigned fully, as she preferred. Emotion was the quickest way people got killed. She learned that a long time ago.

Putting some more colorful ‘clothes’ over the barer garments, she finished the look with some high heels and a trench coat. Walking outside, the only thing she could be thankful for considering the rain was how it had warded people away from the streets. The few that still walked through them were also too busy in a rush to get to their destination without getting too wet to give her a look-over. Annie didn’t mind, in part because the wetness of the downpour wasn’t harmful, and in part because she knew the club’s damn steam machines would make her skin moist all the same. She waited by a bus stop, taking a moment to look above her at the general dark grey the twilight had taken. With the storm, all colors had been deprived from the end of the day, the transition to night becoming uglier for it.

When she got on the hardly crowded bus, the driver simply looked her up and down before understanding simply what she was where she was going. When she gave him the money, he nodded her way and just kept driving. She appreciated the silent straightforwardness of not asking the obvious question and simply going through with it. The rain was coming down much heavier by the time her stop came, the streets illuminated now purely by manmade lights. Getting off, she quickly walked a block to find the multicolored sign of her workplace. ‘ _The Nymphs of Marley_ ’. Nothing particularly creative, and the neon lightings forming the naked woman at its front was as upfront as it could get. Then again, only a moron would come to a strip club to expect delicate details.

Entering, she simply gave a nod to the bouncers who respectfully returned it, quite possibly the only men in the entire building who were not perverts. But then maybe that was just because they were being paid to. Either ways, Annie appreciated the last of the non-sexual stares she would get for the rest of the night. If there was _one_ thing she could be thankful for was the no-touching policy without the stripper’s consent. She had broken one man’s arm because of it starting her job. Ironically and thankfully, that had given her the double-job as stripper and additional bouncer, after the boss told her she was that good fighting. Most men didn’t usually try anything stupid, anyways, and the regular bouncers were always quick. Didn’t mean she’d turn down a bigger paycheck.

She rolled her eyes, hearing the usual number of wolf-whistles and hoots of ‘encouragement’ as one of her coworkers slid down from her pole and crawled particularly close to the crowd. She ignored them, simply taking the chance to walk behind the curtains and hung her trench coat where the other girls were preparing to dance themselves. Taking off the rest of her excruciatingly colorful ‘modest’ attire, she looked around the room. Like at the gym, her natural aura drove most of them away, even when they shared the same job. It was something about how she had been the ‘new blood’ and she was already amongst the best paid workers in the club. And the same way she had at the gym, she’d had to put one of the rowdier ones down before the rest backed off. And strangely enough, her night life also had a strange woman willing to go out of her way to make her acquaintance, even friendship.

“Diamond! You finally made it! And here I was, thinking you were gonna leave me all by myself.” With a different life came a different name, but Hitch Dreyse was amongst the few, scratch that, the _only one_ who knew about her name outside of Marley’s. She had thought the girl daft at first, brushing off any and all kinds of insults with a stride, more often than not taking them as compliments. Annie had been surprised at how tactful and self-aware she actually was, simply choosing to take the simpler, confrontation-less path when it came to dealing with certain problems. And she had to give her credit, Hitch had never called her by her real name a single time in the club, or by her stage name outside. It was a detail she’d grown to appreciate. “Yeah, poor you, Cinnamon. I could only imagine how hard it would be for you to be all by yourself out there without any competition.”

“Oh, you know I like a good challenge, Diamond! Besides, my offer still stands on us being a duo instead of the whole lone wolf thing you have going on. Can you imagine? We’d own this place by the week!” She had wrapped an arm around her as she said that, a gest that had taken Annie a while to get used to. The blonde simply rolled her eyes, shaking off the arm, walking to her chair and looking in front of the wall-wide mirror all the strippers used to get their make-up ready. She’d learned to ignore her friend’s breasts dancing with nothing but pasties to cover them showing how little she cared to be seen by the group within the room. Then again, considering how the blonde herself was currently ‘ _dressed_ ’ in a hardly-covering, silk crimson bra and a triple-strapped, lycra g-string of the same color with three little, white bow knots on the back, she had no grounds to criticize her friend with. Putting on an excessively red shade of lipstick, Annie questioned, “So, are you still head over heels for that MP cadet? You know how uptight Gross can get when it comes to his workers having relationships.”

“Oh _relax,_ Diamond, just because _you’re_ not on the hunt for a hunk of a man doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy myself! And there’s nothing funnier than getting Marlowe all flustered up when I’m at the stage. Besides, if he wants to get me a good present, then all he has to do is ask me for a personal dance. It’s even better that way. We skip the whole him going detective and failing miserably on what to get for me and just giving me the money to do it myself. I tell you, he’s as sweet as they come, but you couldn’t give him five years in the world’s largest mall to figure out what to buy for a present.” Annie could feel the vein pulsating at her throat. _You’re showing your whole body to a bunch of old, horny men for a living. How can you be so happy?_ She took a deep breath and calmed herself. She had to remember that Hitch had a completely different thinking process when it came to these things.

“You know, you need to get your boyfriend to be more careful. Talk is talk and I keep hearing he wants to ‘cleanse the Military Police’ and ‘make it wholesome again’. That’s the kind of talk that’ll get him into trouble.” At that, her hazel-haired companion’s smiled tightened. Annie wasn’t proud of causing that, but she didn’t feel too bad about it either. She was pointing out a real concern for her friend’s safety. “What? Oh, that’s just Marlowe being Marlowe. He’ll get it through his head eventually. Everyone knows the rules of Sina around here and no one’s in a hurry to change them. If I got to convince him into _not_ joining those insane Recon Scouts, then he’ll come around on that too. But enough about me, it’s _you_ who needs to get out more. God knows how much potential you have to find someone all to yourself.”

Hitch slapped her almost bare ass as she said that. Annie flinched momentarily before glaring at her ominously when she did that, but much against her own instincts, did nothing to hurt her for it. As she opened her mouth, the other girl cut her off with a teasing smile. “Oh, I know, I know, you’ll have your heel up my ass by the end of the night and I’ll be dead by the end of the month. I remember it since you said it to me on your first day here. How long has it been since then? Half a year? I’m gonna go ahead and say that I have at least another few years of life expectancy before you carry your punishments out. In the meantime, I’m gonna give a wild time to some of the horny morons outside and wait for Marlowe to show up. He’s got a late shift tonight.”

Annie watched Hitch, now Cinnamon, as she turned her back to her and flaunted her pert cheeks in a thong before walking back up the stage. The blonde pinched the bridge of her nose. Sometimes, she wondered how people like Hitch really did exist. It was almost comical, the dichotomy of her two times of the day. Sweet, angelic Mina being the highlight of the day whereas the wicked, devilish Hitch did well enough to represent her work nights. Annie wondered on which side she stood more. Sometimes, she thought she walked on the fine line between the two like a tight rope. Sometimes, she thought she didn’t even fit into the equation. She dispelled her thoughts when she finished putting on her make-up, the way she let her hair down and carried herself almost unrecognizable from the girl at the gym merely a few hours past.

When she got on to the stage on her own section, the crowd cheered ‘ _Diamond_ ’, ‘ _Diamond_ ’, ‘ _Diamond_ ’. She remembered how disgusted she felt on her first night at that, feeling how every shred of her dignity had been taken away. Nowadays, her emotionlessness reigned, as usual. She was, ironic to her stage name, the crown jewel of the club. Just at the right height to be tall without being too tall, the mysterious origins, the nonchalant way she carried herself, her surprisingly fit form and her overall tantalizing beauty drove the men insane. She learned, in her line of work, to be thankful for that, as it usually equated to her making more money. Tonight was crowded, something she was both thankless and grateful for. She would have preferred a more silent night to end the week, but the bills caught on the multiple straps of her g-string were comforting enough.

She only had around an hour of work left at around three in the morning when _he_ came in. Nameless, tall, and definitely an eye-catch, he stuck out of the crowd like a sore thumb. If sore thumbs could be considered handsome. He had slick, wet hair from the obvious downpour outside, making his dark brown mane look closer to black. It fell down evenly from all sides to his shoulders, and from the way it looked, it gave a more natural look than the locks of half the women she worked with. He had tall cheekbones, a humble nose, a very strong, defined jaw and two thick, dark shadows over his green orbs. But his greatest feature was, by far, the emeralds he had for eyes. They had a deepness to them she could not decipher if she was given a whole week to them. Most of the men there were obvious enough to read, but he remained a mystery.

She had been dancing all the while looking at him. He hadn’t seen her yet. He was looking around the place, analyzing every colored light, every empty corner. Several of the louder dancers were making signs for him to move closer to them. He simply kept on looking. The only time he stopped was when he met her gaze. Perhaps it was instinct, perhaps it was pride, but Annie did not back down from the mile-long stare. He, in turn, had no means of looking away either. Instead, he walked casually past the rowdier men and took one of the few empty seats directly in front of her. He was tall, she could tell, he could be a bit taller than her _while_ she was still in her heels. While his jeans and his white button up shirt and boots and dark brown jacket covered his frame, Annie would guess he at the very least took care of himself.

Once again, his gaze was somewhere between intense and tranquil and trained solely on her own sapphires for eyes. Somehow, that made it worse. Men looked at her up and down, front and back all the time, making them predictable. He was looking at _her_ , almost as if trying to read her to the best of his abilities, not taking the time to look at her exposed body. His chest heaved in what she could only imagine was a deep breath, and something in his emeralds flickered and changed. His gaze was as relentless as before, but the curiosity that fueled it had been replaced by desire. It was hard not to be aroused by him. Even Marlowe, the times he had gone to Marley’s, had eventually succumbed to drooling over Hitch’s body. The mysterious man was unlike any she had seen before.

Part of her blamed it on wanting a different, more thrilling end to the week as opposed to following the usual routine, but in the end, she knew she only had her own want for the man to blame for her actions. What came as a shock to the true regulars of the place and a milder form of it for those who usually came from time to time, Annie stepped off the stage. Taking only a few steps towards the man, who couldn’t have been much older than she was, she held out her hand to him. He remained unfazed, but got up smoothly, hardly making a noise where others would be scrambling over themselves in his position. He took it in a strong yet surprisingly gentle grip, and she led him to one of the more secluded rooms, where the private dances took place as well as the more… intimate activities.

She turned her head halfway before nodding to a bouncer who opened the door for them. When the two were in, he closed with minimal sound. There was a single circular couch and a circular elevation to the floor at its center. She turned around to find the man to finally be looking at her body. His tone was calm and he didn’t hesitate to look her over or pretend to have been doing something else before she turned to him. And then he was back to looking directly at her. Wordless, he took out his wallet, emptied what might well have been more than six hundred dollars and simply left them at a nightstand near the door. With that, he put it back in his pocket and sat down patiently at the couch. A knock on the door signified the drinks, which Annie took in her hands before it closed again.

“So, how’s this gonna work?” His tone was calm, and his voice had a deep thrum to it. She raised a brow, finally hearing his rather pleasant voice before offering a glass of the sizzling white wine, though it looked a hue of pink from the neon rosy glow of the light above them. He grabbed it gently before taking a large gulp, the drink hardly fazing him. _He knows his booze then, though hardly seems like an alcoholic._ She sat down next to him, using her freed hand to tuck a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. “How’s what gonna work, honey?”

“I remember seeing the sign with the ‘no touching policy’. For that I’d need your consent. I know you taking me here shows some, but I’d rather hear where you draw the line from you before I ruin both our nights. Oh, and you don’t need to call me ‘honey’. I can tell you don’t like saying it, and I’d rather not hear it if you feel that way.” _Fuck, he’s good._ She rarely ever called customers pet names, but only because Gross wanted them to feel welcome. Annie hardly ever needed to use it because she never talked to anyone privately. The few times she had, she had done so mockingly after beating them to a pulp when their hands had crept too close for comfort. “Alright then, how about this. You can touch all you like, so long as it doesn’t turn into fucking, so no penetration.”

“Fair enough.” With that, he raised his glass to her. She clinked hers against his in a silent toast before they both took another swing, setting them down on the table he’d put the money on. Getting on top of the raised floor, she started dancing much more calmly, slowly, sensually. She looked at him every now and again, finding him completely enthralled by her, the gracefulness with which she moved her body. It was a sensation that she both hated and enjoyed greatly. It would have been a deal easier were he in just as little clothing as she, but he had layers of garments over his form. It felt like she was exposed to a painfully obvious extent while he was perfectly shielded. She knew that was only true as far as skin and superficial looks went. She had put a damn lot of care and money into making sure no one would associate the person she was now with the person she had been up until little less than a year ago.

She had gone to the floor, crawling close to where he was until she was a breath’s distance from his handsome face. The look his eyes gave her were pleading, and she knew the intent they had. But the man was too respectful and chivalrous to close the gap. Instead, he put a hand on her hip, now in his reach so he could caress the skin. For a second, Annie nearly gave in. She didn’t allow herself that getting up and resuming her routine. The fact that she had made the exception of taking him to a private room violated enough of her codes and safety procedures. The last thing she needed was attachment to the first ‘hunk’, as Hitch would call it, that actually caught her eye. But, his grasp went from gentle to firmer, all without hurting her, and the tone of his gaze was more demanding in nature now.

An agreement was an agreement, so Annie complied and turned her back to him, her derriere in nothing but a few strings and a bow as if it were a present just for him. Sitting down on his lap and rubbing his crotch, she was both pleased and nervous to feel him so undoubtedly hard. And the size sure did impress. She went on like that for a minute until his hand was back at her hip again, grasping faintly as if to signal her something. Turning her head halfway back to him, brow raised in question, he said nothing. They stayed still like that until he sighed, this time using his other hand as well to gently gesture her to turn around. It was the last thing Annie wanted, but she did as he wanted. He had paid good money for it. It was the gaze she had tried shielding herself from, those damn eyes did things to her he couldn’t even know. _Or maybe he does, and that’s why he’s doing it._

She started rubbing his covered length forwards and backwards in a sensual motion while he took her legs and put them comfortably to his sides. They may as well have been the armrests to a particularly soft, pale couch from the way he laid his arms on them. There was a new tint to the emeralds now, Annie slowly learning to decipher the man before her, and she could tell that he had a question he wanted to voice. She simply nodded, and thus he asked. “From the way everyone reacted back there, you don’t seem to do this very often. Why me, then?”

“You’re not a perverted, middle-aged man trying to escape from the boredom of his marriage nor a moronic bachelor looking to touch a woman for the first time. You’re… something else.” At that he gave a small smile, sensual as her movements on top of him. He slowly trailed his hands up her thighs until they were behind her, giving her bum a gentle squeeze that had her skin covered in goose bumps the second he did. _God damn it, has it really been that long since I’ve been with someone?_ She hated feeling so weak, _disarmed_ with a swift few words and actions, feeling anger at the fact that she couldn’t deny the pleasure she was gaining from the encounter. She’d be damned if she let her face spell it out for him though. Instead, she looked at him with a fervor of her own. “My turn. You had the eyes of half the girls on you when you walked in, and every one of them would have offered more than just a private dance. Why did you choose me?”

“Because you look… real.” She gave him an unimpressed stare at that, which prompted soft laughter from him, an admittedly sweet sound to hear. Finally letting go of her behind, he grabbed his cup, finishing the wine and setting it back on the nightstand again. He looked her in the eyes again, silent, looking like he was trying to find the right words for his explanation. “The other girls seemed plastic. Their bodies seemed fake, their smiles seemed fake, their attitudes seemed fake. You… you entice to the best of your abilities _without_ overselling yourself. The way you walked, I’d have guessed you were the actual owner of the place. And you did not once flash a fake smile or blow a fake kiss or find some way to suck up to the other customers in order to loosen their wallets. You looked honest, and from the way you talk, you really are blunt without remorse. It’s a quality I rarely find in people. It’s something I definitely enjoy.”

Annie bit her lower lip. Between the rubbing of the sexes, even with several layers of clothes between them, the honest talk, the staring contest they constantly had and the way he touched her… _I’ll regret it tomorrow._ That had been her last coherent thought before she kissed him. He tasted sweet, though that was the wine they had both just drunk. Still, it was comforting to know that he was a good kisser. His hands roamed more freely then, and though she wasn’t supposed to strip him, he managed to get his jacket off. She could feel the muscles beneath his stainless white shirt, and she gasped when he broke away to leave soft pecks on her shoulder, slowly working her way up to her neck.

Annie enjoyed herself fully then, remembering for the first time in so long what it had been like to have a lover. He had kept his end of the deal, though, so he didn’t stick his fingers anywhere they didn’t belong, a rule she was starting to regret having imposed. She was gaining pleasure rubbing up against him though. Usually she’d need much more than that to even amount to an ounce of that internal sweetness, but she supposed that prolonged loneliness and the context of their situation had facilitated the fulfillment of her carnal desires. She was possibly halfway into getting an orgasm when a loud knock on the door had them both snapping out of their trance, Annie fuming internally at the interruption. Opening her eyes and looking at the clock, she realized it’d only be fifteen minutes until Marley’s closed. For the first time since she had started working at the place, she wished work would have lasted longer. She got off of him, looking at his still bulging crotch before giving him an apologetic gaze. He only shook his head and laughed.

“Don’t worry about me. It takes a lot more than rubbing to get me off. I just kept at it because you seemed to enjoy it.” With that, he got up, having to unzip his jeans and zip them back up again to put his manhood into a more comfortable position. He grabbed his jacket and put it on. Then he turned around and looked at her, longing and melancholy being what currently dimmed his eyes. She looked at the door for a minute before looking back at him. “I could talk to Gross, tell him we’ll be here for a while. It’d cost you more than it already would, which more than I’d like you to spend on this, but–”

“No.” Despite the fact that he was cutting her off, there was a gentleness to his tone. His eyes, though still saddened by the untimely end to their mutual pleasure, hardened quickly enough. “I’m no master detective, but I can tell this is your first time getting this far with someone in a place like this. I know that because I’m no different. And paying for sex is a standard neither of us want to lower ourselves to. Besides if we did go that far, I’d rather earn it, not pay for it.”

“But you’re not coming back here.” Her tone was definitive, and it disheartened her to see that he shook his head, proving her guess correct. She shouldn’t have been surprised about that. Decent people didn’t go to places like Marley’s. People with _self-respect_ wouldn’t go to places like Marley’s. Under any other situation, Annie would have been caught dead before stepping foot in such a locale. Still, for a second she had allowed herself to fall into the illusion that she had found someone like herself in the shitty club she spent her week nights working. She must have let some of the emotion to show, because his long, warm palm was caressing one of her cheeks. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll see each other around some place that isn’t here.”

“No, we won’t.” Annie wasn’t good at lying, but she was able to tell when others were being honest and when they weren’t. The man’s intentions were honest, but his words weren’t. That was what made her stand at the top of her toes to give him one final kiss. _If Hitch ever found out how close I got to one guy whose name I didn’t even know, I’d never hear the end of it._ But she didn’t ask him his name for the same reason he didn’t ask hers. Theirs had been a chance meeting, coincidence and not fate. They would do well to forget each other and not torment themselves on what could have been. That’s what she got from his expressive eyes, and if she did it well, then her own mirrored his thoughts. With that, he left the door.

Annie sighed, collecting the great sum of money left on the nightstand and finishing the rest of her wine. God knew she’d be tempted to drink herself to sleep tonight. But in the meantime, she’d put back on the flashy clothes and her trench coat above them. Hitch wasn’t there to say goodbye, probably already having gone with uptight, righteous Marlowe to his apartment. The blonde soon found herself down the familiar road that was having only herself for company. Walking out, she found her heels atop of still puddles. She looked up to find that the clouds had been dispersed, the night sky littered with the stars the artificial light pollution could not hide. A crescent moon smiled down at her. She didn’t smile back, but she found again the peace she’d been thinking of before her night shift had started. She would walk home tonight, she decided. _At least I got the chance to enjoy a Friday night._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, that was the first chapter, and neither even got to know about the other's name. But, I did reference this in the description. Now in this fic, the geography is similar to the actual show's and everything's gonna take place on Paradis. The change here is that Sina, Rose and Maria have more logical divisions and are three thirds of the island as opposed to the protective wall formation they had due to the Titans. Given how there is no such thing as actual Titans in this fic, there was no dispute between Marley and Eldia, but Paradis is a cutaway from the mainland. Annie's goal of recollecting funds would be to go to the actual continent (in which Eldia would be the equivalent of the bottom half of Africa while Marley would be the upper half and part of Europe), where she wouldn't be recognized and could essentially 'run away' to there. The fic will let you in on more of the world as I've planned it out to be, but I wanted to explain since this is the first chapter and I wanted to avoid general confusion.
> 
> Either ways, I hope you enjoyed, and please leave a comment or a critic depending on how you found the chapter!


	2. Chance Dates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I made an immediate return with a new installment to this story. I got four comments last chapter, which is honestly twice as many as I originally expected. And the best part of them were the fact that they were well thought out and actually constructive, so I'd like to thank you all for taking the time to do so. The same goes for those who gave kudos for the story. As for the general critic I received for last chapter, it was primarily related to the length of the paragraphs I've put out. 
> 
> While I'm used to writing generally long and descriptive ones that start and finish basic ideas, I've cut them down to half the size for your convenience (because if you take the time to write out a comment/review on my story, the very least I'll do is do the same for you and consider what you have to say).
> 
> Now this next chapter has a bit more information on the modern world the characters live in for this AU, and there will be a minor reference or a nod to a character here and there, but this is still the second chapter. So the more we go into the story, the more details and facets you'll see of the world they live in and the characters within it. So without further ado, enjoy the next chapter!

Annie awoke to the sun’s rays. No, that wasn’t right. The light wasn’t shining on her directly as the window to her apartment indicated that it should have. It may have well been noon judging by how bright blue the sky outside was. Checking her alarm clock, it read eleven thirty, an hour later than she’d have liked to have shaken herself from her slumber. She supposed that was the consequence of having her very late stroll back home last night.

Thinking of that made her think of the event prior to her leave. Her stomach sank at the reminder of his absence, or rather, his definitive disappearance from her life. She knew she was stupidly romanticizing him, giving him more qualities and values than she actually knew he had just from a very satisfying first meeting. _Hell, I don’t even know his name._ The blonde could only guess that was the effect of meeting someone of the opposite sex with something close to a matching personality along with months of practicing a life of celibacy and loneliness.

She frowned. She was naked under her soft, heavy duvet covers, a nice warmth to wrap over herself in contrast to the low nineteen degrees she kept her apartment temperature at. She liked to get up as soon as she woke up and make the most of the days she had, but the abrupt ending to the previous night’s pleasurable encounter had left her yearning to finish. She might have done so before going to bed, but she had been too tired. The consequences of postponing, she supposed.

Lowering a hand to her wet garden, she started touching and rubbing and entering herself in all the places she knew she liked best. She made guesswork of the body he had beneath his clothes, imagined what he himself had between his legs. She imagined him in her, his vibrant gaze still steady, his voice firm and echoing truthful sweet nothings into her ear. She wasn’t sure how long she had been at it, but she felt the peak, fingering herself as fast as she could and making it last as long as her body could take the intense orgasm.

She found herself in a limp heap by the time she was done, beads of sweat traveling down from her forehead as if she had come from an intense session at the gym. Her body had been exhausted from a week’s worth of training during the late afternoons and working at the darkest of the nights. She shouldn’t have been surprised how much masturbating could take a toll on her. Her mind was heavy and her lids were coming closer together.

She would have likely fallen asleep again if she hadn’t agreed to meeting Mina again in… wherever the hell she planned on them meeting. She sighed, kicking the covers off and heading straight to the shower. Under the warmth of the water and steam, she allowed herself some extra time under the artificial rain to gather her thoughts and enjoy the sensation that was taking a bath. Eventually she snapped out of her trance, turning off the faucets and drying herself with her humble white towels.

Finishing and hanging the bath cloths back in their places, she opened the drawer under her sink to grab her brush. Combing her bleach-blond locks, she found a knot that had been particularly sturdy and unwilling to break. Putting all her strength behind the pull and ignoring her scalp’s complaints, she got it out, which caused her arm to swing rapidly. She felt a sharp pain when she hit it with the edge of the table the sink was on.

Looking at the back of the hand holding the hairbrush, she noted the thin red line adorning it and general bruise around it, but steam erased it before they could bleed and turn violet respectively. On instinct, she had a not-so-thin layer of ice surround her hand before having it disappear. She closed her eyes for a moment remembering a thousand and one wounds far worse, many of which would have killed her were it not for her powers. She shook her head. That was behind her now. Today she had to meet up with Mina.

Leaving the bathroom and heading to her bedroom’s closet, she picked out simple set of black converse shoes, light blue jeans and a simple white t-shirt. She would have liked to don her hoodie, but summer was a bitch. Lastly, she opened up her underwear drawer, filled completely and exclusively with the audacious garments she could wear to work. When she had bought the selection of colorful strings, she figured she’d buy all the pack combos over normal panties to save up money and just use them as her regular underwear as well. It’s not like she would show what she wore beneath her clothes to the people on the street, and Annie was nothing if not pragmatic.

Thus, she paid no mind to the lacy black bra and matching g-string she picked out, putting them on and after her normal clothes. Dispelling further thoughts from intruding her mind, she left her moderate apartment. Out the door and down the elevator, she watched the electronic _five_ above the metal doors descend to the ground floor. Out she went, simply nodding to the doorkeeper, another man who knew about her profession but cared too little to gawk at her. Finally outside to the surprisingly beautiful cobalt skies, Annie started dialing Mina on her phone. As per usual, the raven-haired girl was enthusiastic to her call.

“ _Annie! I’m glad you finally made up your mind, you won’t regret it. You know the Grand Stohess Mall? The huge one in the middle of the district with just about anything and everything in it?_ ” Annie rolled her eyes. The damn place was little over two hundred thousand square meters and had six stories to boast of just about everything. The answer to her friend’s question came naturally. “No, never heard of it. Would you be so kind as to tell me what that place is?”

“ _Ugh, no need to be rude. Well, when you get there, go to the fifth floor, the one just below the theaters. It’s basically the one themed for adults, so you won’t have a lot of people going in and out of there. There’s a bar there called Krueger’s Poison that I’ve heard is really high quality! Besides, we’re meeting a friend there! He’s stopped by recently, and I think you might really like him! I tell you, he’s passionate like a fireball! Thomas is coming with me, and I didn’t want to leave you all alone._ ” Annie rolled her eyes again. She could already imagine some shy, closed off guy whom Mina thought might be a good match for her. With a rather bored tone, she finished, “Bye, Mina.”

“ _Fine, be that way. I better see you there!_ ” And with that, she hung up. It was funny, in hindsight, how the other girl handled ninety-five percent of their conversations in most cases. Annie had no problem with it, happy with not raising the five percent. _All the best things are better left unsaid._ Thoughts of her father soured her mood, looking around herself and taking in the city around her to focus on something different. Stohess was like the rest of Sina, and Sina was the most architecturally advanced state of the three. And the way it had its superficial appeal, it was as riddled with problems as the rest.

Sure, the rural landscapes of Maria had the prettiest in her opinion, but ever since the leaders of the Cult of Ymir had been broken out from their prison, the entire state went to hell. Annie herself had had nothing to do with it, but she had been a part of the _Titans_ for the better part of her life, and that meant that she stood by while Reiner and Bertholdt knocked out the guards and broke the doors to their prison cells. It didn’t take long for the priests to get out, find their stash of the Serum, drug and brainwash people into their cult, and have them do the same.

In a chain-reaction effect, the state had fallen within a month and a half. The few that had not been affected by the Serum were immediately cannibalized. The people seemed content with their new lifestyles, killing the people they once called friends, neighbors and even family to sate their appetites. Thus, the immigration to Rose happened, the following chaos ensued with the clashing populations, and life in Paradis came closer to a form of hell. In fact, Rose’s own horrors, being the in-between of the rural and the technological structures of Maria and Rose, had been the overabundance of people leading to far more crimes in the state. Sina had not lifted a finger to help either, and did not even think twice of raising the gate to allow residents of either of the two in.

That was Sina’s venom. Being the capital state with a _very_ inactive and _exceptionally_ corrupt government, the King of Paradis had the country working for him and his army of brown-nosers when it should have been the other way around. If anything, the miserable bastards _benefited_ from it, taking refugees and offering safety while handing them to the slave labor of grand companies. Annie bore that weight on her whenever she looked at the faces of the poor and the unfortunate. She had not taken a part of that mission specifically, but she had done nothing to stop it. She shook her head vigorously and growled internally, _I am someone else now, that’s all that matters. I survived more than practically everyone around me. Depression is not going to be the reason I die._

To her inner relief, she arrived at the outskirts of the freakishly large mall. It took her a good five minutes of walking through a half-filled parking lot to enter the main entrance. She had to look at one of the maps of the infernally large place to get to the elevators. She squeezed through a crowd, waiting the most as it only went up to the fifth level. Out she went as soon as the small gates opened again, happy to be away from the people she’d been forced to stick so close to. Another trip to the center’s maps and she found the way to the bar. She was at least thankful for the apparent taste Mina’s friend had. _I could use a drink right about now._

It was only two in the afternoon, but there were days which weighed down on her heavier than the rest, and the mind needed its painkillers. There was an old, classical feel to _Krueger’s_ that the blonde had to admit that she liked. It gave the sensation of an establishment that had decades of history to it, and not just some poppy shit to attract younger audiences. True to her guess, there were several anniversary style pictures hung from the walls, as well as several adornments. Analyzing the room before figuring out that she had arrived before Mina, she took a seat on one of the stools in front of the bar table.

“Afternoon. Anything in mind you wanna order?” Her eyes drifted to the hazel-haired and eyes a blue so bright and dim, they were closer to grey than her own orbs. She’d been in luck, she figured, at having encountered several figures in the past few days that looked at people objectively regardless of their desires or attractions. That put her in a rather good mood. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, she was too bad at expressing as much for others to be able to see that. “I’ll have a Screwdriver. And don’t dumb it down. I can handle my liquor.”

A simple nod was sent her way before he made for the vodka and the orange juice. The air conditioning worked just fine inside the place, but she still wanted the strong, refreshing drink. As soon as the round, orange cup was in her hands, she took a moderate gulp. The taste of orange was altered to taste bitterer, and in spite of the icy temperature, it managed to burn down her throat. She wouldn’t have it any other way. She heard someone else enter the place, but didn’t bother turning around. If it was Mina, she’d be the first to know. If it wasn’t, she wouldn’t waste her time checking. The bartender, however, seemed to recognize the new arrival. “Jaeger. Didn’t expect to see you around here. Rum for you?”

“Church, it’s been a while. Mix some coke and lime into it, but not too much. You’ll get a happy man out of me that way.” The bartender chuckled, but Annie was frozen in her seat. She turned her head as little as she could to look at where the familiar voice came from. In the light of the bar, she got a much better view of him as she had the night before in the dimness of the club, but the eyes remained the same. A simple moss-green V-neck framed his chest very well, and the jeans looked similar to the ones he had worn yesterday, if not a few shades brighter. The boots were the same however, a dark brown to match the rowdy mane he had for hair.

She immediately looked forwards and at the drink she was now holding tightly in her hands. _Shit, Mina’s gonna be here any minute with whatever stuck-up friend she brought with her. The last thing I need is to be caught with the guy I almost fucked during my last worknight of the week._ But, the bartender ‘Church’ had been cruel enough to put the Rum and Coke in the spot next to her at the long table. She was paralyzed when she looked through her peripheral vision at the tanned hand grabbing the drink, taking it up as she assumed he was taking a drink.

When he set it back down, she could tell his body had tensed. Mustering the courage and dignity to look him in the eyes at the far more reputable establishment, she saw an astonishment in his eyes that equaled her own. It wasn’t reluctance that described the emotion that seeped through his eyes, it was just blunt, intense lack of response. Now both fully staring at each other, their gaze was intense, far more than it had been last night, but for all the wrong reasons. Mere moments later Mina arrived, and her comment completely threw Annie off.

“Eren? Eren! Didn’t you hear us calling for you by the fountain? You didn’t hold the elevator for us so _we_ had to come chasing you through four flights of stairs to catch up! I hope you’re proud of yourself, you big meanie.” The brunette tore his gaze from her to look at the door, where Mina was standing with an equally sweating Thomas. Both were panting, but had equal goofy grins on their faces. Mina’s smile reached her eyes when they finally recognized the blonde. “Annie, you’re here too! Darn, and I wanted to be the one to introduce you two.”

Annie’s genes dictated the paleness of her skin, making her look paper-white naturally. Mina’s two statement somehow managed to reduce her to a shade far closer to a ghost’s. Sharing one more look with ‘Eren’, he found that he too had been as unaware of the situation as she had. A small voice in her head commented on how she liked his name. The rest was as silent and frightened as a deer in the headlights. At their mutual silence, their common friend stepped in between the two.

“Annie, remember the friend I was telling you about? This is Eren jaeger, the guy Thom and I went with to the training academy. Eren, this is the girl I was telling you about, Annie Leonhardt, the one I go to the all-girls-gym with.” The two nodded dumbly at the ‘introductions’. Astounded as the two were, she was really glad that the newly named Eren was going along with the whole ‘presenting each other’ by shaking her hand. Annie said nothing. _What’s there to say? Mina, you might not know this, but I actually met your friend yesterday, when we nearly fucked in the strip club._

“Pleasure to meet you.” His words came out strained, though he managed to hide it enough so the couple with them didn’t know. She nodded stiffly, but again, it went unnoticed by Mina and Thomas. Only the two were aware of their mutual standpoint. When he let go of her hand, he took a good _gulp_ of his drink, shivering shortly after as an effect of the concentrated alcohol in his beverage. That in turn reminded Annie of her own Screwdriver, which she gladly did the same with. At that point, the couple started talking to the two in the literal sense, as the silent pair was happy to let them fill in the conversation.

Either Mina was really daft or _exceptionally_ perceptive, because she winked at Thomas and convinced him to dance with her to the old timely music playing from the jukebox. The two were alone again, and their pair of friends were far enough away so that they wouldn’t hear them speaking. Either Mina thought they had a spark going on, or there were things they needed to talk out and settle so they could start acting a little more ‘normal’. Annie herself wondered which it was.

“So… Annie, is it? It’s a pretty name, I’ve gotta say. Much better than your other ‘nickname’.” She looked at him again, who was easing out of his internal pressure faster than her. A part of her was relieved that her perception on his tactfulness from the previous night had not been off or fantasized. The fact that he had not openly acknowledged that she was a stripper helped a great deal. She shook her head. “Well, ‘Eren’ works a lot better for me than ‘mysterious stranger’ did. You know what? We’re alone right now, so let’s cut the bullshit while we can. Did you know about this?”

“If you’re asking if I knew about you beforehand, no, I didn’t. Mina never mentioned your name or your job. She just said she had a friend I _really_ needed to meet. I thought she was half-setting up a blind date, but I had originally planned on letting you down easily if that was the case. Only I didn’t know it was you. And from the tone of your question, I’m guessing you were thinking along those same lines.” There was a sureness that came with his bluntness that relieved her. She offhandedly nodded, looking back at her orange-tinted liquor and taking another mouthful.

“This is just like Mina, you know. Half the time she makes a guess it’s intuition, the other half is luck. This is one of those times where the coin lands standing, right in the middle of the two. She made it as obvious as she unknowingly could that she was trying to get me a date too, but I don’t think she could ever know how close she got it.” That was a lot more than she would have normally spoken, but the man and the circumstances brought a rare, somewhat talkative side out of her. His familiar laughter brought her attention back to him, a ruefully amused smirk adorning his features.

“Yeah, that’s Mina alright. Part-time friend, part-time unknowing detective. Well, here’s to the promise we made last night of finding each other again.” He raised his glass of shining amber booze at that. She would have never even considered it if anyone else had made the proposal. Sappiness never appealed to her. The allure behind his sardonic tone was what brought laughter to her, another weary soul of fate’s underhanded tactics. She elevated her own cup to his. “And here’s to the mysterious ways of _love._ ”

At that he laughed heartily, clashing his glass to hers hard enough to be heard well in the bar without spilling either of the cocktails. A final swig from both and their cups were left empty. A knock on the bar’s table from Eren signaled clear-eyed ‘Church’ to serve them each another drink. Before she could say or protest, he paid without hesitation for both his drinks and both of _hers_. She wanted to contest that, in part because her pride told her she could pay for her own damn things without relying on others, and more importantly because how much money he had already spent on _her_ at the club. No matter how much she tried, however, Eren remained adamant.

“So, you already know what I do for a living. What do you work in?” At her question, his brows furrowed a bit. She could tell he was contemplating on the answer. He gave a look back to Mina and Thomas, who had gone from watching over the two like parents introducing their kids to each other to becoming completely mesmerized by the music and each other. Looking back to her, he closed his eyes and sighed. Opening them again, he started speaking again. “It’s complicated. You know those questions you get that lead down a rabbit hole to a shitstorm of a story?”

“That bad?” Much as she wanted to pry, she knew damn well what it was like to prefer to keep most of the information to herself. The man nodded. “Yeah. That being said, I _can_ give you the answer under two conditions. The first is that you don’t ask Mina or Thomas what my job prior to mine was, the one they believe I still have. They don’t know I’ve… switched professions, and I’d like to keep it that way. The second is understanding that the answer is not pretty. Let’s say the living I’m making right now is… less than noble.”

“What? And you think good little girls wind up as ‘ _dancers_ ’? Trust me, I’ve seen the kind of people that come to the locale, and unless you’re a gangster or part of some corrupt mob, you’re not the worst I’ve seen around.” Her words put his nerves on ease, apparently. His far more relaxed smile told her so. She was terrible at lying, so her honesty struck out much more. And now she _really_ wanted to know the answer of what his day-to-day life was made of. “Well, the short, simplified version is… I’m a mercenary.”

Now that had her brows raised high. The soft-spoken, honest, respectful and attractive man who had caught her eye was a hired killer. Most good girls would have panicked at such a revelation, cried even at the idea of their shining prince being utterly ruined. Annie was the last person in the world who could criticize a person of such a profession. Still, much as she wanted to learn more about Eren, she needed to know what exactly getting involved with him would imply. She still needed to lay low if she wanted to live to an old age. Eren must have caught on from her stare, because he greedily swallowed more of his diluted rum before continuing.

“It’s complicated to explain, but let’s just say I’m working with the ‘good guys’. I can’t give names and I can’t give details. All I can say is that any person I’m tasked with ‘dealing with’ is not innocent under any regards. The best way to put it is that I’m a highly paid soldier with some morals that has never been caught. If any of this makes you uncomfortable, now’s the time to say it. I’ll tell Mina I fucked up with you and that it didn’t work out between us.” Once again, there was sureness in his voice, but there was now a hint of fear and longing in his eyes. Not for the first time in the past day, Annie went against her own principles. This time, she smiled at Eren.

“Like I said, I’ve seen plenty worse come around Marley’s. Even if you’re morally grey, you’d look righteous and heroic next to some of the bastards that hang around the area. The way I see it, your only fuck up has been spending so damn much on me last night without getting all that much for it. I guess I’ve gotten my chance to pay you back now.” Eren was nothing like the ‘fireball’ Mina had described him as, but there was a new vigor to his smile and determination to his eyes which seemed to top the energy he had shown last night.

Annie would sooner be damned than ever reducing herself to a whore. But, she had the chance to better meet the actual him here and now while he did the same without money flowing in between. And she had only touched herself that morning thinking it was the closest she would ever get to pleasuring herself with him in mind. Their unintentional re-encounter changed everything. And so, they continued with their conversation and their drinks, getting a better feel of what the other was like.

Eren was ironically similar to her in attitude and demeanor, if not with subtle streaks of dark mischief. The more she pried, however, the more differences that came to pop out. Beneath the stoic exterior, he held high certain ideas and notions with a burning zeal that completely contrasted with her apathy when it came to daily life. He was dangerous for that, in a sense. He had a kind of indominable will strong enough to go against the tide, and he had a mindset intelligent enough to be delicate about it while working hard for his goals in the shadows. It was a trait that Annie herself admired, and she’d be a liar if she said she didn’t envy in the slightest said capacity to stand against all odds and not back down.

It was reassuring to know that their core beliefs were similarly aligned. He saw past the superficial looks of all the states of Paradis, though she supposed Maria didn’t count with their obvious infestation of religious cannibals. He saw the turmoil that Rose found itself in, and he loathed the ‘law and order’ of Sina with a fearsome passion. Through discreet messages and certain emphasis on words here and there, he made it a little clearer on who his ‘targets’ were through the vocations they practiced. Annie simply nodded at that. Not many people could simply hear about the killings of others, but even if it was a vigilante’s way, Eren was likely doing Paradis more than one favor through the persons he executed.

It was all unofficial and easily deniable, if formal questions were asked. But, the underlying statements were clear. Eventually the conversation left the grim subject and went more to the day to day life of Sina. Both learned that they relied on working out and on occasion sparring to clear their minds and better pass the time when they had free time to spare. Much as she didn’t like getting her hopes up, Annie was finding Eren to be more and more relatable the more they spoke.

By the time they’d finished with their fourth drinks, the two were speaking more loosely, smiles coming out with more ease in between their conversations. Mina had popped in the middle of the pair, openly proclaiming her happiness on how quickly they got along with each other. Her smile faltered a bit when she talked about how Thomas’s car had been towed from a no parking sign without the proper painting on the road _or_ a sign denoting the different space, so the two had to make an early leave in order to take it back and argue or sweet-talk their way out of paying for something that had been out of their hands.

On one hand, Annie sympathized for her friend and her boyfriend for their unfortunate scenario. On the other hand, she was a bit relieved that she could spend more time talking with the handsome man without them having to look over their shoulders to make sure the happy, innocent couple didn’t overhear their more audacious, even dangerous discussions. Thus, they remained for another hour or so, engaging in easy debates where faulty morals were the topics and both gave the opinions they usually had to hold back with others.

Finally, the blonde got out her phone to read five-thirty, a surprisingly long time the two had spent talking without exhausting each other. _Hell, I might’ve broken a personal record today._ The gest made Eren do the same, raising a brow at what he found. From there, a simple invitation to leave and have a walk was all that she needed to leave the now warm stool. He waved goodbye to the bartender, and Annie did the same purely out of manners. Turning to him, she questioned, “Have you been there before? You seem to know him well enough.”

“Eh… let’s just say I know him from more than one place. Before I got my new job, Church had been a pretty close friend to my previous boss. That and I dated his best friend for a while. Didn’t last long, we were too intense for each other, but we keep in touch.” Annie didn’t pay mind to the fact that he had gone out with the bartender’s friend. If he said he was done with that relationship, she believed him. It was his offhanded comment on why they separated that made her curious. “‘Too intense for each other’? What exactly do you mean by that? Would it have anything to do with Mina initially describing you as a ‘fireball’?”

“She said that? No wonder she did. She’s too nice to use negative connotations to describe anyone. When she said fireball, that was the nice way of putting ‘shoving opinions down people’s throats and screaming out your purpose in life’. Sometimes I look back and wonder how the hell it even crossed my mind to do some of the things I did. Isabel, Church’s friend, was like that too at the time when I behaved like that. It’s why we got along so well at first and had to end the relationship so quickly after we got together.” There was an amused, albeit melancholic smile on his face as he said that. Annie knew she was stepping into delicate territory about his life, but still she asked. “And then…?”

“Shit happened. But that’s enough about me. How about you? Any absurdly stupid things you did a while ago that you regret nowadays.” Annie’s expression was emotionless ice when he asked that. _Absurdly stupid things I did? Well, besides being a part of the Titans and ruining more lives than I can fathom, no, I’ve kind of always been the same cold, pragmatic girl._ But instead of voicing that, she simply shrugged. “I’ve always been the way that I am now. Maybe I had some childish, idealistic dreams at one point that I learned to ditch when I grew up, but otherwise, nothing’s changed much.”

“Then you were probably smarter than most kids around you were.” They were outside now, Annie realized. The booze had definitely gotten to her enough so that she couldn’t focus on both the conversation and walking at the same time. The sun wasn’t quite yet on the horizon, but it was inching closer. She pressed her lips tightly together in silence, thinking over her next course of actions. She stayed like that for a minute, Eren equally content with the silence, until lightly she nudged her elbow to his ribs. He raised a brow in question and she simply tilted her head, taking the lead. Thus, she walked on and he followed at her side.

The twilight had brought colder winds with it, a delicious refreshment as opposed to the scalding heat of the day, so the two enjoyed their silent trail with their hairs blown back. Annie was pink in the cheeks the more she thought about what she was doing, many rational voices in her head telling her to change her course or to say goodbye to Eren now or do anything else than she was going to do. An overruling tone set the discorded mind straight. _I’ve been responsible for the past six months, damn it. I’ve earned one more night of recklessness._

The sky was a mixture of hues varying from orange to pink to indigo by the time they’d reached the bottom of her building. She looked up at it for a minute, before nodding to herself and stepping inside. She turned around when she realized she wasn’t being followed anymore. For the first time, she’d seen hesitance placate Eren’s otherwise passionate emeralds. He was staring her again with that damn intense gaze that gave her shivers down her spine, asking the unsaid question with his look. She nodded to him this time, and even surprised _herself_ when she outstretched her hand to him. In a second, he’d wrapped it in his own strong palm, following her very closely now to the elevator.

Waiting for it to reach the fifth floor, she simply kept her lazy glance on him, looking him up and down now. _Even if those boots give him an extra boost, he’s still pretty damn tall. One-eighty-four, eighty-six, maybe? Doesn’t matter though. Height isn’t measured when you’re flat on your back._ Last night, it had been the hormones and pheromones that gave the spark. This time, the alcohol they had drunk served as the push past the rather small barrier between the two.

When she kissed him, she lazily threw her arms around his neck, and he was quick to wrap his own around her waist. A familiar _ding_ and the sound of the doors opening had alerted the two that they had arrived at her floor. Rather than letting her go as she leaned out, he grabbed the back of her legs and carried her up effortlessly. The action excited Annie, but she managed to cut the kiss long enough to say, “ _Second apartment, the last one to the right._ ”

And thus the soldier was given a purpose, looking over her shoulder and administrating light pecks on her neck simultaneously. Her breath quickened to small pants at that, enjoying relying on his strength to carry her over to her room. When he reached it, he softly pressed her against the wall next to it, taking her mouth for a few greedier kisses taking her tongue in his mouth with pleasure. At some point, Annie managed to fish her keys out from her pocket, holding them out to the young man by the one which opened her door.

Grunting and huffing, he put one arm under her bum in an effort to carry her with one arm while opening the door with the other. Annie knew she had muscles to make her denser than her already medium-to-tall stature would indicate, so it surprised her his sheer strength and will to not let her down. He was rewarded with a few clicking noises and the door opening, carrying her inside and slamming it back shut with his foot. He laid her on the couch then, using his freed arms to touch and grope and fondle all the right places as well as he could without stripping her.

The blonde had to make a serious effort of self-restraint control to softly but firmly push his chest away. She looked at him again, his eyes burning with the intensity she had yearned for in the morning. It took even more to get him to get off of her, only noticing his hardness _after_ he wasn’t pressing against her. She had to pant for a bit before taking the keys he’d put on the table in front of her couch and walking up to fully lock the door to the outside. When she turned around, she found him sporting a look only half-patient and entirely, unashamedly horny. Once again, she tilted her head for him to follow her, stepping on her converses before kicking them off and unbuttoning her jeans.

Eren trailed behind her like an attentive hound, sticking close to her without touching until they entered her room. He closed it behind them while she took of her shirt. His hands were at her hips at a blink’s notice before they quickly turned her around, making out with her furiously once more. He stopped once more to take off his shirt and his boots, unbuttoning his jeans and sliding them off quickly before resuming his aggressive attack on her petite form. Annie felt chills when he hooked two thumbs under her own cobalt denim pants before pulling them off.

For a second she thought her bottom half was naked until she remembered she wore nothing but a tiny g-string underneath. Eren must have noticed it as well, because he slapped her ass viciously before tackling her onto her bed. She moaned, surprised at his fierceness and savage lust, feeling pleasure when the sting subsided. His boxers came off quickly, giving her a view of his fully erect form with no clothing to hide it. _God damn, how big is that? Eight, nine inches? I’m not going to be able to walk tomorrow if he’s as durable as he is eager._

Annie made to remove her own thread for underwear, but Eren simply grabbed her hand and pulled it away. She made to protest, but his simply directed his girth to her entrance, bunching up the front of her underwear to the side before entering. It was slow, but it was steady, and she could tell he had no mind of stopping. She was panting all the way, taking a deep breath when his pelvis met hers. _Fuck, I’m gonna feel this the whole week._ But she made no protest, gladly taking him in and wrapping her legs around him.

When he started thrusting it was slow, surprisingly gentle considering his previous excitement. Those thoughts were warded away quickly enough when he started picking up speed, a wet slap sounding each time their hips met. It was steady, but it was shifting, she realized. Each time he went in deep, he touched a different place, scratched a different wall. It wasn’t until he rubbed the perfect place and she let out a low mewl that she realized he’d been looking for the best place for her to feel pleasure as well. She kissed him for that, and neither interrupted it.

She couldn’t tell how long they had been at it. The booze in her mind still dulled her sense of time, so they might have been screwing for five minutes or half an hour for all she knew. That didn’t matter to her. What did matter was the familiar feeling of her walls contracting, her body quivering. She let out a frail whimper, and she could hear his groan from the back of his throat. He went as fast as he could and they peaked together, holding onto each other dearly as if their lives depended on it. Then, Annie felt the heaviness of her whole body.

When she allowed herself to fall back into the bed, she watched Eren get up, naked and sweaty, making her motion for him to come to her. Tired as he was, he ignored her, looking around until he finally found the control to her air conditioner and turned it on. She couldn’t count her blessings enough when it came to him, she realized. As a finishing touch, he lifted her up a bit, digging the covers of her duvet out from beneath her before wrapping it over her form. And while Annie was satisfied, she wasn’t content until she felt the weight of the bed shift and his strong pair of arms wrap around behind her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept so well before that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is the end of chapter two. I did say it would be pretty smutty. I updated in pretty short time, but I might take a bit more on publishing the next chapter to organize my ideas for this story and decide what happens next. Well, I hope you enjoyed, and once again I would ask of you to comment on what you like and write out a critic on where I could improve. They give me life!


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